It’s finally springtime and aside from the usual ‘spring cleaning’, you might be looking for other home improvement ideas to keep yourself busy while the weather warms up enough to do the outside projects. Here are three ways to spice up your rooms this spring.

Add a Little Paint

You may be looking for something simple and affordable rather than a big expensive project, so know that a coat of fresh paint (chosen well) never hurt any aesthetic. Take to Pinterest to inspire you with a new color scheme to carry the fresh feel of spring throughout the rest of the year. Maybe you aren’t looking to repaint the entire house, but you know that big wall in the living room that you can never figure out what to do with? Turn it into an accent wall with a color that ‘pops’ or upcycled panels. Trellised rooms are exciting to the eye and can be a great creative project that will occupy some time.

Hang & Rearrange

Redecorating always feels good when you’re in the need for something fresh. If you aren’t emotionally attached to the artwork you have already, consider finding some new pieces to accent the room. A nice mirror or a creative family portrait montage brings a new energy into an otherwise stagnant space. There are thousands of DIY projects to incorporate some crafty art into your home during the season of fresh starts. Sometimes, even the rearranging of the furniture can give you the fresh new look you are craving! Plants can also bring a brand new life to your space.

Add Some Depth to the Walls

If you are feeling adventurous and motivated, wainscotting or paneling might be just the spring project to take on. Wainscoting is not only aesthetically pleasing, it also protects the lower portions of your walls from damage. Adding trim or molding to wainscoting creates an elegant, classy look to an otherwise boring wall. Some people are even taking to decorating their ceilings with different panel designs to add a little extra charm. However, this undertaking doesn’t have to be pricey. A suggestion is to apply a grid of 1x6 drywall panels to a drywalled surface, add a coat of paint to the grid, and then magically, the boards, stiles, and rails create a look like something out of a design magazine.

Whatever it is that calls to you, all three of these are easy enough and have millions of points of inspiration throughout the internet to help get you started on spicing up the rooms in your home before summer projects start. It is time to let go of the old and bring in the new! Reach out to Bright Star Handyman Service for all of your home renovation needs in Philadelphia and South Jersey!

Are you tired of the same-old, same-old in your home? There are lots of ways to update a home, but sometimes our wallets won’t allow us to build our perfect home at this very second. We have some suggestions for home repairs that may get you a few steps closer to living in your perfect space without breaking the bank. Here are 10 home repair services for less than $500:

Seal the Deal in the Bathroom

Does your bathroom look dirty regardless of how many times you’ve scrubbed the tub & tiles? One cost-effective way to give your bathroom a new, fresh feel is to replace the grout between the tiles. Over time, tile grout can start to discolor and chip away regardless of how clean you keep it. It’s normal wear and tear for a bathroom, but it can make your bathroom feel older than it is. Sometimes, deteriorating grout can even make the surrounding tiles come loose if water gets behind them. The caulking around your bathroom fixtures may also need a little help. Caulk is the sealing around your sink, bathtub, toilet, and bathroom hardware that prevents water leaking into your walls and flooring. Both grout and caulk can wear down over time and allow leaks, which will cost you more to replace in the long run.

Upgrade Your Porcelain Throne

If your toilet is constantly breaking the chain or isn’t doing it’s job with water pressure, it may be time to upgrade! Newer appliances, like toilets, are more energy and resource efficient than ever before. While making an upgrade like an energy efficient toilet or low-pressure shower head will cost you money up front, you may benefit from lower bills on the backend. You can be more water-conscious and have a shiny new toilet that can shift the look of the whole room!

Revamp Your Interior Walls

If you’re bored with your plainly painted living room or kitchen walls, you have some options without breaking the bank! There is one big way to completely change the dimensions of your walls: wainscoting. While this might sound like an old English term, wainscoting is a wall covering that has become increasingly popular in the last few years. More specifically, it is vertical, painted wood panels that cover the bottom half of a wall, typically horizontally lined with a wood molding at the top to separate the panels from the drywall. This is a great way to diversify the look of your walls and potentially cover any minor damage the lower half of your walls may have sustained from your kids or pets! Price will depend on the size of the room but can be an affordable DIY project or reach out to us for our home repair services!

Shiplap Installation

Many people who are avid watchers of HGTV have seen and heard about shiplap quite frequently in home redesign. But why? Shiplap has been commonly known as siding on the exterior of your home, but has recently gained popularity for interior home remodeling. Shiplap, as opposed to wainscoting, is horizontal wood paneling that lines the walls, with the top panel laying slightly over the panel beneath, like a roof tile but thicker & longer. Originally used to support proper rain flow down the side of a house, many have turned it into a feature wall within their home! It’s a beautiful way to bring unique texture into a room. Cost varies depending on the size of the room, but some shiplap panels can be found for as little as $1 per foot of board!

Line a Room with Crown Molding

Crown molding is the decorative line that runs around the crease where your wall and ceiling meet. While older homes typically have crown molding, many newer or renovated homes can come a little more bare. Molding comes in a number of materials, shapes, and sizes and cost can vary depending on which you choose. A simple crown molding installation can make your living room, dining room, or bedroom look even more elegant without breaking the bank. It softens the hard corners of the room while adding a classy, finished look. They can typically be painted any color and come in a variety of shapes. Some are more standard, while more expensive options like plaster can offer large, intricately detailed custom molds like an early 1900’s Victorian home. While some people choose to do this themselves, we recommend our home repair services to give you a hand!

It’s All in the Lighting

One cost effective way to make changes to several rooms at once is to update your lighting. Replacing old light fixtures can not only bring more light in to your home, it can affect the entire feel of the room. An older light fixture could be dating your home 20 years without you even realizing it! Not to mention, changing the fixture and converting to LED light bulbs could help reduce the amount of electricity your home uses on an annual basis. If your overhead light fixture isn’t bright enough, look into investing in a floor lamp to add more light. Want to see the difference lighting can make in your home before making the purchase? Take one of your lamps and move it to another spot in the room, and see how the dynamic in the room changes from just this one step!

Paint the Town Red

Painting your kitchen, living room, bathroom, or bedroom can drastically change the feel of the room. While it takes a little bit more preparation to move and cover your furniture, sometimes a new coat of paint will have your home looking like a brand new place! If you don’t want to paint your walls, take a look at your cabinets and baseboards and see if they need a new color or coat of paint. Typically, it’s best to sand down the old paint to get the new coat to go on smoothly and last longer. One word of caution, sample your paint before you decide to make touch-ups on your walls or trim. It can be difficult to match paint colors exactly (usually in older homes with discontinued paint colors), so work with someone to make sure your touch-up paint matches exactly, or get ready to repaint everything!

Picture Perfect Windows

Blinds and curtains are typically under siege in homes with kids and pets, but can also wear down and break on their own over time. One way to update the look of your home is to install new blinds and curtains. While cost depending on how many windows you have and how fancy you want your blinds, it can be a great way to make your home look even nicer! If blinds are out of the question, take a good look at your curtains. Curtains are great to reduce the hard lines that windows and their frames can create in a room. Looking for more light? Blinds and sheers are a great option. Wanting to limit light in the bedroom, heavier drapes can help cut out excess light.

Save the Stairs

If you have pets, an older home, or a high-traffic area in your home, your floors may be showing you that it’s time to do something. Installing a floor runner up your stairs or in a hallway is a great way to hide the wear and tear on your floors. Carpet prices vary but there are several affordable options. If you choose a full runner for the stairs, be sure to secure it so it does not slide when you walk on it. There are also individual carpet pieces that use adhesive to stick to each individual stair. If you think you need to replace the stairs altogether, reach out to us about our home repair services!

Scrub Away

If you’re not sure you’re ready to replace anything in your home yet, maybe a good thorough cleaning will have you loving your same old space! Some homeowners that are trying to sell can change their minds about their home after deep cleaning and repairing their home. If you’ve never cleaned your light fixtures or repolished your wood floors, this might be a good place to start! It could be more time-intensive on your side, but might just be what you’re looking for in a home repair!

Regardless of what you’re looking for in a home beautification, feel free to reach out to us at Bright Star Handyman Service to learn more about our home repair services. We’re happy to help to create your dream home!